Take four heroes of pop and add five new kids on the block… Vicky Edwards drops in on Gary, Howard, Mark and Robbie as they guide Five to Five, the BBC TV Let it Shine winners, through their first photo shoot...

Laughingly describing the occasion as a ceremony to “hand over the leather waistcoats,” Take That’s Howard Donald is shooting video footage of bandmates Gary, Mark and Robbie while they wait for new band Five to Five to experience the first of no doubt many photo shoots.

It is familiar territory for the group who, having hit the charts in the 90s as a boy band, have since grown up, evolved and continue to shift millions of records, downloads and concert tickets.

But today is about singing in theatres rather than arenas and the four elder statesmen are in a West London venue, hanging out with the five new kids on the block who are about to sing their songs as the soundtrack of a brand new musical.

How long has an idea for a musical based on Take That songs been in the offing, I ask Mark.

“Seven years ago the first idea, the first seedling of an idea of a musical that could incorporate our music, came about. But not necessarily about us,” he says, pausing and then adding: “In fact, anything BUT about us. We’d find that a bit dull; we wanted to make it more interesting!”

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The result of that now fully grown seedling is The Band. Written by Tim Firth, who also collaborated with Gary Barlow on The Girls, under the auspices of theatrical aces David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, Gary, Howard, Mark and Robbie are also producers for the show.

Against a musical backdrop of Take That songs, the story tells of five 16 year-old friends in 1992 for whom ‘the band’ is everything. 25 years on, the group of friends, now 40-something women, try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting their heroes.

Chatting to the cast and producers, it is clear that while this isn’t a conventional ‘jazz hands’ musical, nor is it a jukebox show. The word ‘unique’ is freely used, and I am assured that, under the direction of Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder, and with a technical team that include specialists who work on Take That’s big arena shows, there are going to be wow factors a-plenty.

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Discovered via the Saturday night primetime TV competition Let it Shine, Five to Five are The Band of the title.

We watch them rehearse. AJ, Nick, Curtis, Yazdan and Sario look as hot, sound as good and dance as well as their mentors.

And it’s not just me who rates them. The Take That boys are also impressed, not just by Five to Five’s talent, but also by how solid their protégées are as a group.

“Ever since they got together as Five to Five they have had this unity and gel,” says Howard.

“But now they have got to learn the show and the art of going on eight times a week,” Gary chips in.

Robbie nods his agreement. “The discipline, the actual physical and mental discipline of being able to do that, is nothing you can expect until you’ve done it. Treading the boards for eight shows a week? It’s not something I’m desperate to do,” he jokes.

Fittingly, The Band opened in the city where it all began for Take That, at Manchester's Opera House in 8 September. Advance box office sales have already topped a record-breaking £10million.

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But as well as The Band, Five to Five are also working on their pop career. Do the Take That chaps reckon they have a chance of making it?

“Can they make an album? They are ambitious, so I hope so,” says Gary, clearly optimistic about their scope for success.

“They are a proper band, these guys,” he adds.

“It’s amazing how ready they are to do this,” affirms Robbie. “It’s unusual. They were better than us straight away,” he adds, pointing out that the eighteen months Take That had before they were really in the spotlight was a huge advantage.

“We had time before we got any real notoriety, and it was good that no one was watching because early doors there were kinks. But these guys seem to have that chemistry right away, straight out of the box. They are incredibly professional,” he admits.

But the four of them know only too well how hard Five to Five will have to work to get started.

“It’s going to be intense,” cautions Robbie, “although not as intense as ours [early career], which back in the day was incredible!”

Talking to camera, Howard has the last word: “Tickets are on sale. Go and get them. They’re hot!”

The Band:

The story:

A new musical about what it’s like to grow up with a boyband. For five 16 year-old friends in 1992, ‘the band’ is everything. 25 years on, we are reunited with the group of friends, now 40-something women, as they try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting their heroes.

The production team:

Written by Olivier Award winner Tim Firth.

Produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers with Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams.

Directed by Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder, designed by Jon Bausor and choreographed by Kim Gavin, with lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, video design by Luke Halls and sound design by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster.

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